In typical micromachined microphones of the prior art, it is generally necessary to maintain a significant volume of air behind the microphone diaphragm in order to prevent the back volume air from impeding the motion of the diaphragm. The air behind the diaphragm acts as a linear spring whose stiffness is inversely proportional to the nominal volume of the air. In order to make this air volume as great as possible, and hence reduce the effective stiffness, a through-hole is normally cut from the backside of the silicon chip. The requirement of this backside hole adds significant complexity and expense to such prior art micromachined microphones. This present invention enables creation of a microphone that does not require a backside hole. Consequently, the inventive microphone may be fabricated using only surface micromachining techniques.